Fayrer, J[oseph]

Folio (17 5/8 x 12 1/4 in.; 450 x 310 mm). 28 chromolithographed plates (2 double-page), 3 uncolored lithographs; some foxing, heaviest to earliest plates.  Contemporary red cloth, cover decoratively ruled in blindstamp with gilt-lettered title and text; extremities rubbed, joints repaired and spine rebacked, few minor stains.

Adler II:97; Nissen ZBI 1339; BM(NH) 560

"[O]ne of the classics on venomous snakes" (Adler).  Sir Joseph Fayrer, surgeon and physician, wrote copiously on the subjects of Indian climatology, sanitation, the pathology of Indian diseases, and, perhaps most prolifically, on venomous snakes.  The Thanatophidia of India was richly illustrated, and with very few exceptions the snakes depicted were drawn from life by members of the Calcutta School of Art. The book embodies a significant amount of Fayrer's research, and describes in detail nearly 500 of his own experiments surrounding cases of snakebite and its subsequent treatment.